Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Preparedness Project - A Jar of Candles!


A Jar of Candles with a TWIST!
Today's project will cost about $1.50 to make, but will be a great help in a power outage.
You will need:

1 Quart Canning Jar (Regular or Wide Mouth)
Amazing Goop Craft Contact Adhesive and Sealant
(We used the Clear Transparent Goop)
and
1/2" Plumbers Cap
That's all you need to create this project!
Instructions:
Take off the ring and jar lid.


Flip jar lid so that the seal is facing away from the jar.





Replace the lid with the seal side up.




Apply a pea-sized amount of the glue to the center of the lid, and the bottom end of the plumbers cap.
Let each piece sit for 40 seconds.




Put the glue-side of the cap to the glue-side of the jar lid.
Make sure it's centered on the lid.

Allow to dry over-night with the cap on the outside of the jar.

Fill the jar with 1/2" candles and a small box of matches.












 Reverse lid so that the plumbers cap is now inside the jar.
Tighten the ring.




You now have a waterproof emergency light source!







Wait 24 hours before you use the jar.
Note:
If you are unable to find 1/2" candles, NO PROBLEM!
They have lots of different sized plumbers caps.  Just take a candle with you to the hardware store to make sure you get the right fit.  Make sure you can fit the cap on the lid and that the candle(s) and matches will fit in the jar.  I found my candles at Smith and Edwards . . . Love that store!
I decorated my jar to show it as a GIFT IDEA.
You can make a few neighbor gifts for Christmas right now, and if there's an emergency in the meantime,
No worries . . . You're good to go!

I print the labels on crack-n-peel at Alphagraphics in Bountiful. 
They have the file if you want them to print some for you.  Photo tape works too!
Remember to flip the candle holder into the bottle when not in use to keep it from getting broken off!
You can attach the plumber's cap with a 5/8" screw if you want it to be extra strong.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wanted to make this project but can't find any normal candles like these anywhere. Where did you get yours?
And by the way, I love your site.
CThomas

The David and Tricia Smith Family said...

You can find the candles at Smith and Edwards.
I will go online and see if I can find some more at a good price!
Thanks for the comment.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I'd tried everywhere but Smiths.

Kym said...

I found emergency candles at the dollar tree.

I want to suggest that when you are putting the candles in the jar trim the wicks so that you don't have to worry about it when you are in an emergency situation

Anonymous said...

Could you provide a good link to the PDF for the jar label? The one you have is not working :(
Thank YOU!

Prepared Not Scared said...

Here's the new link to the Candles in a Jar:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5ykc5lk014loy5d
You can find any of the broken links by going to the top right hand side of the blog. Check the 2010 folders. You can do an individual search in each of the folders to find what you're looking for.
Hope that helps!
Trish

Jaclyn Griffith said...

The Dollar Tree has packs of 6 emergency candles for $1. Just bought two packs there for working on our house emergency kit and our 72 hour backpack kits. So glad I found this blog. I am kind of obsessed with emergency preparedness and my family and friends tease me about it. Nice to know there are others out there, too!

Shirley said...

What a fantastic idea! We made one today.

Clint said...

Did this but used a used plastic jar(?) for my backpack kit.

Carrie said...

I got my candles for this at the Dollar Tree. Only cost me 1.00 :-)

Kim said...

When I click on your link for the label file, this is what I get, "Oops...Sorry, you're trying to access a feature that is no longer supported. "

Prepared Not Scared said...

Here is the updated link to the candle jar pdf:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?5ykc5lk014loy5d
Hope that helps!
Trish

Anonymous said...

I found this through a friend on Pinterest. Thankyou for posting it. Mayonnaise jars and other recyclables will work for this project too.
Another thought...pillar candles burn longer than these smaller versions and making your own is easy.

Mike the Gardener said...

What a wonderful idea and a great project!

Unknown said...

I tried to share this on Facebook, but got this Facebook message:

"The content you're trying to share includes a link that our security systems detected to be unsafe:

preparednotscared.blogspot.com

Please remove this link to continue.

If you think you're seeing this by mistake, please let us know."

I let them know there isn't noting wrong with this blog!

Prepared Not Scared said...

THANK YOU SO MUCH!